"Yes," said Dan, "if I can stay awake."
"Can you give us a summary?"
"Sure." Dan told him briefly what had happened.
Kielgaard was silent a moment. Then he said, "What do you think 'charge' is?"
"I haven't been in any condition to think. Maybe it's a surgically implanted battery, set to run down after so long."
"Too clumsy. What about radioactivity?"
"H'm. Yes, you mentioned a mine on the inner planet. Maybe they mine radioactive ore. That would explain why I have some charge. There's residual radioactivity even in the atmosphere of Earth."
"That's so," said Kielgaard. "But not every planet has it. I'm wondering about this other agent you mentioned seeing. He sounds to me like someone from Trans-Space. And that's bad."
"They play dirty," Dan conceded.